FULL SENATE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES TAIWAN TRAVEL ACT

Today, on February 28, 2018, the Senate unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act (TTA – HR535) sending the binding legislation to the White House for a signature by President Trump signing the bill into law. On February 7, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act, clearing the bill to go to the Senate floor.

The binding Taiwan Travel Act legislation states that Congress finds that: “Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered from a lack of communication due to the self-imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on high-level visits with Taiwan.” It concludes that: “the United States Government should encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels.”

The TTA was introduced in the Senate on May 4, 2017 as S1051 by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Gary Peters (D-MI.) At SFRC passage it enjoyed the further co-sponsorship of Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ron Wyden (D-OR.)

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Steve Chabot (R-OH), Brad Sherman (D-CA), and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) had introduced the Taiwan Travel Act in the House on January 13, 2017. When it passed the floor of the House of Representatives unanimously on January 9, 2018, the bill enjoyed the co-sponsorship of 81 members of Congress.

FAPA President Mike Kuo states: “We are very grateful to Senator Rubio for leading the charge in the Senate on this very important issue, and to the Senators that co-introduced the bill.

Dr. Kuo concludes: “This is a great day for Taiwanese Americans and for the people of Taiwan. To become law, the bill now only needs the signature of the president. This will clear the way for the top leaders of Taiwan to come to DC – including president Tsai Ing-wen.”